Pens used with ink-jet printing systems available today include print heads which have nozzle arrays with very small nozzles through which ink droplets are fired. The ink used with the pens typically dries quickly, permitting plain paper printing. Such pens are susceptible to nozzle clogging with dried ink or minute particles such as paper fibers.
Ink-jet printers have utilized a service station which includes a mechanism to cap the print head nozzles when the pen is not printing. Typically, the cap mechanism encloses the exposed outer surface of the orifice plate defining the nozzle array, to help prevent drying of the ink at the nozzles, and prevent contact with dust. The service station may also include a wiper mechanism for wiping away ink residue and dust accumulated on the orifice plate, and a receptacle into which the pen periodically fires to purge dried or plugged nozzles.
Ink-jet printers typically use a mechanical architecture wherein a pen carriage holding one or more print pens, each with a nozzle array, is transported across a stationary print medium to print a swath onto the medium. The medium is advanced between print cycles by a paper advance system to position the medium for subsequent swaths. The paper advance system typically includes a primary drive roller and one or more paper pinching rollers which retain the paper against the drive roller. In such printers, the sled can be positioned at one end of the travel of the pen carriage, off the print zone. During a service mode, the pen carriage is moved to the service station, and the service station actuated to lift the cap and the wiper to active positions. Such arrangements can lead to increase product width, since the printer width is increased to accommodate the service station.
In the above-referenced related application, entitled INK-JET PRINTER WITH STATIONARY PENS AND TWO-AXIS MEDIA DRIVE, a new printer architecture is described, wherein the ink-jet pens are immobile, and a two axis media drive system is used to move the print medium relative to the pens during printing operations. The two axis media drive system includes a media drive roller structure which is rotatable to move the medium in one direction to position the medium for a given swath. The media drive roller is integrated into a translating media carriage, which slews the media in an orthogonal direction at print speed during printing.
This new architecture presents a challenge in servicing the pens.